NBA commissioner Adam Silver has really worked on turning the NBA into a global league. There are currently 135 international players in the association, the most in the history of the league. To complement, players from overseas are taking over with their dominant performances. Former NBA champion Paul Pierce knows exactly why.
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For most of the sport’s history, America has dominated basketball. Even outside the NBA, the USA has continued to dominate the sport internationally. Unfortunately, that reign of dominance seems to be coming to an end.
Germany’s recent FIBA World Cup gold medal performance was only the tip of the iceberg. In the NBA, international players have become the league’s biggest stars. The last seven MVP recipients have all been born outside of America. The times, they are changing, and Paul Pierce believes the separation stems from how the sport is approached in Europe.
“That’s just what it’s been the last four, five, six years,” Pierce said on Ticket & The Truth. “When you look at our society and how we grow our kids to play basketball, it’s flawed.”
The play style European players develop is much different from that of North American players. Since Europe has established FIBA rules, which provides more power to defense, offenses must find intelligent ways of scoring.
In comparison to America, many players seek isolation opportunities or playing for highlights on social media. Pierce broke down the problem in simpler terms.
“Not enough five-on-five. No more going to the park, getting knocked down and getting up. Everybody got a trainer. We’re babied,” Pierce proclaimed.
The love for the game, which players such as Pierce, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and many more developed, hasn’t seemingly been transferred to the current generation.
However, NBA legend Kevin Garnett believes American players have something which international athletes won’t ever be able to replicate.
“The world might be better, but the sauce is at home,” Garnett said.
As great as Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic are, they don’t have the same swagger as stars such as Ja Morant and LaMelo Ball. Those are the players that young basketball players want to be like. There’s a good reason why Morant and Ball’s signature shoes are constantly among the hottest on the market.
Regardless, basketball isn’t about popularity. Of course, teams want stars who will sell out an area, but that won’t matter if they aren’t winning games. One thing Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can say is they lead championship-level basketball.
